HOUSTON – The HCU football team fell behind 14-3 at the half and trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter before making it a one-score game and falling in a heartbreaker to visiting Lamar on Saturday evening at Husky Stadium in Southland Conference play.
The Huskies (2-3, 1-1 SLC) took the opening drive 70 yards on six plays, thanks in large part to a 52-yard completion from
Colby Suits to
Karl Reynolds, down to the Lamar (2-3, 1-0 SLC) five yard line but failed to convert on a fourth-and-one, turning the ball over on downs in the red zone. Over the next few possessions, neither team could generate much in the way of offense until late in the first quarter when HCU got into Lamar territory and again faced a fourth-and-one. From the Cardinals' 31, Suits pass to Reynolds was broken up by Lamar's Ramond Stevens.
After forcing Lamar to punt early in the second quarter, HCU started its next drive with a 34-yard pass to
AJ Wilson and a 12-yard rush by
Darryle Evans to swiftly advance to the LU 31. A few plays later,
Dillon Fedor got the scoring started with a 44-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead with 11:57 to play in the first half. The Cardinals responded, however, driving 75 yards on just five plays on the next possession for a 7-3 lead.
HCU punted on its next possession with
Wheeler Bowron sending the ball down to the Lamar 10 but Kyndon Fuselier took the return 54 yards to start the Cardinals' drive at the Huskies' 36-yard line. LU scored on six plays with a Robert Coleman touchdown pass to Andre Dennis staking the Cardinals to a 14-6 advantage they took into the half.
Lamar opened the second half with a 61-yard drive down to the Huskies' 14 before a 10-yard completion to Izaha Jones was knocked loose by
Caleb Flagg and recovered by
Isaiah Cash at the four-yard line. The Huskies then embarked on a 17-play, 93-yard drive that stalled at the LU three with Fedor chipping in a 22-yard field goal to cut the HCU deficit to 14-6.
The Cardinals answered on the next possession, marching 75 yards on eight plays with Major Dowden scoring on a five-yard run and extending the LU lead to 21-6. HCU's next possession saw the Huskies take the ball down to the Cardinals' 39 but a Ramond Stevens strip sack of Suits ended up in the hands of LU's James Perkins. The Huskies' defense held strong and forced a three-and-out and took over possession at their own three-yard line. A nine-play, 97 yard drive capped by a 12-yard
Jesse Valenzuela touchdown run pulled HCU back to within one score, 21-13.
Three plays later during the Cardinals' drive, Flagg again forced a fumble with a strip at the Lamar 36 that was recovered by
Jalyx Hunt at the 33-yard line. It took just four plays for the Huskies to hit paydirt with Valenzuela taking it 20 yards for his second touchdown of the fourth quarter. The Huskies went for two but
Adrian Green was stopped just in front of the goal line on the attempt.
HCU's defense held again, forcing a punt by the Cardinals and taking over possession at its own 20 with 3:13 remaining in the game. The Huskies moved the ball up to their own 31 but failed to convert when faced with a fourth-and-11 with less than a minute-and-a-half to play.
The Huskies piled up 189 yards on the ground with Evans eclipsing 100 yards for the second-straight game. The HCU junior finished with 132 yards on 24 carries and also added 12 yards receiving. Valenzuela, meanwhile, carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards and a pair of scores. Suits threw for 228 yards on 17-of-35 passing while Reynolds totaled six catches for 112 yards and the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his career.
Jalyx Hunt continues to be a force defensively, ending the night with 10 tackles, two solo sacks, an additional tackle for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Josh Ferguson also added 10 tackles while Flagg had nine with the two forced fumbles.
The two teams were nearly even with HCU totaling 417 yards of offense to Lamar's 412. The HCU defense held the Cardinals to just 3.1 yards per rush but allowed 294 yards through the air.
HCU returns to the road next Saturday, Oct. 7, for an SLC contest vs. Nicholls in Thibodaux, La. at Guidry Stadium at 3:00 p.m.
